To whom it may concern:

For thirty-two years I have been a practicing Veterinarian. During the last twelve years I have been a volunteer dog handler with the California Rescue Dog Association. We respond when someone is lost out of doors, or trapped in rubble from a disaster. We had thirteen CARDA dogs in Mexico City after the catastrophic earthquake in 1985. I am a past National Dog Committee Chairman of the National Association for Search and Rescue, and since my retirement in 1984, I have been involved nationally in improving the training standards of Search and Rescue dogs.

I have known William Meisterfeld, a well - known author and dog trainer for many years. He has helped many of my clients with dogs with behavior problems and he has salvaged many dogs that would have, without the psychological retraining, been put down.

Bill Meisterfeld is currently working with the Sonoma County Animal Regulation Department giving lectures to citizens who received citations for their dogs under the 'Vicious Animal Ordinance'. Most of these animals will be salvaged as companion animals rather than destroyed.

Mr. Meisterfeld is currently working with me on one of my search dogs with an aggressive behavior problem. If this dog can be salvaged, it will mean thousands of dollars saved in training costs.

I am convinced that this psychological approach without physical abuse is an excellent approach to solving dog behavior problems.